Soto hits 426-foot home run in his first at-bat for the Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. >> Juan Soto homered in his first spring training at-bat for the New York Mets, hitting a solo shot to left-center field in the first inning against Houston on Saturday. The Mets went on to win 6-2.

Soto hit second in the order Saturday, between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, and drilled a 426-foot homer on a 2-1 pitch from left-hander Colton Gordon. The following inning, Soto drove in another run with a groundball. Those were his only plate appearances.

• Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Blake Perkins is expected to miss the first month of the season after fracturing his right shin during batting practice. “They’re estimating another three to four weeks to heal and a ramp-up of four to six weeks,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “So you’re probably looking at May.”

Reds’ Francona wants veteran players to ignore ABS test run

GOODYEAR, Ariz. >> Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona says he’s told players not to use the experimental Automated Ball-Strike System in spring training.

Francona told The Athletic he’s OK with younger players challenging calls via the ABS, which has been in use in the minors. But he figures there’s little point for veterans since the system won’t be in effect in the majors during this coming regular season.

“Why work on a strategy we’re not going to use?” Francona said. “It just muddies the waters.”

The computerized system is being tested during major league spring training exhibition games after four years of experiments in the minors. Starting last year, MLB focused testing on a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each original call. Data from the spring training test could cause MLB to make alterations to the system for Triple-A games this year.

Penguins honor late Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange

PITTSBURGH >> The Pittsburgh Penguins honored Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange during an emotional ceremony before Saturday’s game against Washington.

Lange, who died on Wednesday at 76, called Penguin games for 46 years and spent five decades in broadcasting before retiring in 2021.

The Penguins invited Lange’s two sons, their families, and some of Lange’s former broadcasting partners onto the ice before the opening faceoff. Longtime Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby along with Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang greeted them and then stood alongside them during a lengthy video package that featured some of Lange’s iconic sayings, from “It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh” to “he beat him like a rented mule.”

Russian teen Andreeva wins title in Dubai, enters top 10

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates >> Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva beat Clara Tauson 7-6 (1), 6-1 in the Dubai Championships on Saturday to earn the biggest title of her career. The victory will earn Andreeva her debut in the top 10 of the rankings next week — the first 17-year-old to achieve that since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007.

It caps quite a week for Andreeva, who also had wins over 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, five-time major champion Iga Swiatek and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina to become the youngest player to defeat three major champions at a single event since Maria Sharapova at the 2004 WTA Finals. She also became the youngest player to reach the final of a WTA 1000 event.

Arsenal loses to West Ham to hit Premier League title bid

Second-place Arsenal was unexpectedly beaten 1-0 at home by West Ham on Saturday to dent its title challenge, just when it seemed Liverpool was starting to look vulnerable. The result left Liverpool with an eight-point lead, having played the same number of games as Arsenal, and that advantage could grow when the Reds play Manchester City away on Sunday.

Von Allmen edges Odermatt in Swiss podium sweep

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland >>

World champion Franjo von Allmen led a 1-2-3 result on home snow at the first World Cup downhill since winning his first career gold medal two weeks ago.

Von Allmen rode out a late scare getting unbalanced after landing the final jump to finish 0.13 seconds ahead of team leader Marco Odermatt. The standout Switzerland speed team has won five of the six World Cup downhills this season and placed runner-up in all six. The last time Swiss men swept a World Cup downhill podium was in 1996.